Quarter of All US Children Went Hungry Last Year

[berlitz23]

New government data shows nearly 50 million Americans—including a quarter of all children—struggled to get enough to eat last year. The Department of Agriculture found that nearly 17 million children lived in households in which food at times was scarce last year, four million children more than the year before. The government data has startled even anti-poverty advocates. Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America, said, "This is unthinkable. It’s like we are living in a Third World country.” The total number of Americans going hungry is likely even higher. The report is based on 2008 data when the unemployment rate maxed out at 7.2 percent. Since then the unemployment rate has jumped to over ten percent. David Davenport runs the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/17/headlines#2

[The Holy Fonz]

what should we buy 2 trillion dollars worth of food for food insecure kids, hell no lets go to the middle east and oppress their kids.
Hoooorah
THATS WHY THIS IS HAPPENING

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Doesn't surprise me. World's worst kept secret.

Something like half of all Britain's children are born into relative poverty (where the household income is less than around £13,000 per year). Not quite the same as not having enough food, but you can build a familiar picture of Capitalism with these statistics.

[9]

Here's the report (pdf) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/usda_report_household_food_security_2008.pdf?sid=S T2009111601621), by the way. (I'm a stickler for sources)

[Axle]

"Hungry people don't stay hungry for long".

[FreeFocus]

This is a terrible fact, but we all know the story. And while Vicki Escarra may be well-intentioned in her comments, the underlying sentiment of her statement irks me. "It's like we are living in a Third World country." Well, I wonder who makes such conditions prevail in the Third World? Who overthrows, sabotages and undermines any and all progressive and democratic movements in the Third World? Moreover, her statement has a bit of arrogance to it - "oh, we're Americans, we aren't like those people. This shouldn't be happening." Again, these facts are terrible and children shouldn't be going hungry in any country, but the levels of hunger don't even approach what they do in Third World countries, where it is literally almost the entire population.

[Drace]

But how do we explain that capitalism is the cause of hunger in third world countries?

You would rather get this as an argument. "Oh look how successful the US capitalist system is. "

[the last donut of the night]

But how do we explain that capitalism is the cause of hunger in third world countries?

You would rather get this as an argument. "Oh look how successful the US capitalist system is. "


I think this data, in fact, will only bolster our side to show that capitalism isn't a system that only reaps havoc in Third World nations. Many people I have spoken to say, "Oh, capitalism may suck there, but here it's doing wonders." With this data, we can say that, along as before, capitalism is destroying people's lives here too.

Then we can say why capitalism is a bit better here: the US, through imperialism, makes it a bit better here.

[Drace]

I think this data, in fact, will only bolster our side to show that capitalism isn't a system that only reaps havoc in Third World nations. Many people I have spoken to say, "Oh, capitalism may suck there, but here it's doing wonders." With this data, we can say that, along as before, capitalism is destroying people's lives here too.

Then we can say why capitalism is a bit better here: the US, through imperialism, makes it a bit better here. Yes but I was looking for reasons to blame capitalism for this poverty.
Imperialism sums it up, but I need some detail :)

Any good books on the subject of the crimes of capitalism?

[Manifesto]

But how do we explain that capitalism is the cause of hunger in third world countries?

You would rather get this as an argument. "Oh look how successful the US capitalist system is. "
Those countries are being exploited for cheap labor and the average workers there only make 810 yuan ($102.50 U.S.dollars or 68.88 Euros) a month, not very much for food.

[pranabjyoti]

Actually, in my opinion, the real problem is capitalism has reached its peak of scientific and technological development and it, as a system, can not sustain scientific and technological progress any further. That's why new technologies of crop generation, like hydroponics can not be well spread, because that will destroy a huge no. of peasants(!), who are now using high amount of chemical fertilizer, pesticide etc and got a huge subsidy from the state, will become marginal in existence.

[RadioRaheem84]

Wow. A quarter of all children in America experienced hunger last year?

I wonder what counter arguments we can expect from the right on this?

[scarletghoul]

I wonder what counter arguments we can expect from the right on this?
they are all illegal mexicans and had it coming. PROTECT THE BORDER

[GPDP]

Wow. A quarter of all children in America experienced hunger last year?

I wonder what counter arguments we can expect from the right on this?

Their parents didn't work hard enough.

[cyu]

Their parents didn't work hard enough.

Their parents forgot their pitchforks at home.

[Bright Banana Beard]

They didn't learn to cook! (Well I am hungry and I should learn how to cook)

[Il Medico]

But how do we explain that capitalism is the cause of hunger in third world countries?

It the capitalist mode of production. Production under capitalism is geared towards creating the most profit, rather than meeting need. A third world country is an under developed country with a lack of agricultural and industrial capabilities. They also lack the means to develop these currently due to the fact that the little capital in the country is focused on the exploitation of natural resources by first world investors, rather than on building self sufficient agricultural and industrial capabilities. This makes these countries dependent on developed countries for resources. This is the root cause of the hunger experienced by the third world, they do not have economic means to make it profitable to sell essentials like food to them, thus they are denied food as it is not profitable for those who produce it. In sort, because profit is the incentive for production and distribution of the produced resources and third world countries lack the economic and monetary means to make a profitable market, they are denied the products they need.

[cyu]

From Demand is not measured in units of people, it is measured in units of money (http://everything2.com/user/gate/writeups/Demand+is+not+measured+in+units+of+people%252C+it+ is+measured+in+units+of+money)

A market economy can work pretty well to determine what needs to be produced, provided there's one condition: that everyone has relatively equal amounts of spending power. Consider the concept of supply and demand: in theory, the more demand there is for some product or service, a market economy will be encouraged to increase the supply for that product or service.

However, there is a flaw in the theory above that many pro-capitalists overlook: demand (in a capitalist economy) is not measured in units of people, it is measured in units of money. Thus you can have 99% of the people "demanding" basic necessities of life, but it won't matter a bucket of spit compared to a rich man with millions of times more money, who is demanding luxury goods. As the gap between rich and poor increases, the market economy will be focused more and more on producing luxury goods for the oppressive minority.

In order to have a market economy that serves everyone, rather than the wealthy few, spending power must be relatively equal. But can that be achieved through non-violence?

If wealth is concentrated in stocks, then employees should assume democratic control over their companies, thus rendering stocks worthless.

If wealth is concentrated in the hoarding of commodities, then people who will actually use those commodities should just take them from the storage areas where they are just being held for speculation.

If wealth is concentrated in paper money or gold, then people should just stop accepting that paper money or gold as legal tender, and start using something else as legal tender.

All these acts are non-violent. However, you may be attacked while carrying out these activities, in which case fighting back would only be self-defense.

[proudcomrade]

But how do we explain that capitalism is the cause of hunger in third world countries?

IMO, capitalism is a cause of hunger in poor countries. Other important factors are natural disaster, aftereffects of French and British colonialism, and ignorance and cultural backwardness. Yes, you read that last one correctly. No, it is not meant to imply that, ethically, anyone is less than an absolute human equal worthy of respect and compassion. However, things like belief in witches and other superstitions, violence against women, tribalist warmongering, corrupted local dictators, and susceptibility to Roman Catholicism and Islam spread by proselytizers, is one more factor keeping the oppressed even hungrier.

Western capitalism is indeed one huge factor exacerbating the living hell out of the world hunger problem; however, it is far from being the only cause. We do ourselves a disservice by lazily scapegoating "the man" for every single problem on the globe. I am not saying that you are doing so; but I have seen a lot of it thrown around on this site. We do ourselves and the people a disservice by not taking the widest and most critical look possible at the problem. We risk missing out on new solutions when we do that.

[proudcomrade]

Original post:

A lot of behind-the-scenes hunger in the USA also comes from the problem of high-calorie malnourishment. I doubt that the governmental or NGO statistics factor in the amount of children being fed fast food and junk snacks because their single mothers (feminization of poverty, prison-industrial complex, capitalist exploitation of insulin problems and psychological food addiction, anti-immigrant violations, lack of decent public health and education systems) cannot afford anything else, neither in time, information, nor money.

Somebody who eats this way chronically is deprived of crucial vitamins and minerals, cannot carry out body processes completely and normally, and is, in effect, clinically hungry while simultaneously overfed and overweight.

But the statistics tend to report only those who simply lack all physical food itself for n period of time per day, week, month or year. Therein lies the true "hidden epidemic", IMO.